The girlfriend of a murdered high school football star says his final word was ‘Help’, said as he died in a pool of blood after being shot outside a Georgia mall.
Bailey Reidling, 20, says she searched for a pulse in vain after her boyfriend Elijah De Witt was gunned down outside Sugarloaf Mills Mall in Lawrenceville on October 5.
She told Fox News: ‘I run over to Elijah, and he’s on the ground and I go right over to him, and he mouths to me – the last word he said to me was “help.”‘
‘I checked his pulse, and I got freaked out because there is nothing going on there.’
The screams of Reidling were heard in the background of a 911 call.
Reidling described herself as being full of shock, and says she struggled to know what to do as Dewitt bled uncontrollably.
‘You’re screaming in the moment because you’re in shock,’ Reidling said. ‘Some sweet lady came around the corner and said, “Baby, he just got shot. Calm down. We called 911. They are already on their way.’
Bailey Reidling, is pictured with her murdered boyfriend Elijah DeWitt. She revealed Tuesday that her late love’s final word was ‘Help’
DeWitt was on a date with Reidling, his girlfriend of four years, as well as their friends Oscar and Angel when he was gunned down.
The two couples were inside a Dave & Buster’s store when DeWitt gave Reidling his credit card, asked her to get food, and gave her a kiss as she headed to the rest room.
Minutes later, Reidling and Angel were unable to find their dates, so went out into the parking lot, where they found DeWitt breathing his last.
DeWitt allegedly got into an altercation with two others the night he died. Police arrested Kemare Bryan, 18, and Chandler Richardson, 19, for murder and possession of a firearm two days later in South Carolina.
Bryan and Richardson were expected to be extradited back to Georgia on Monday.
Elijah DeWitt, 18, was killed in the parking lot of the Sugarloaf Mills Mall Dave & Buster in Lawrenceville by two others on October 5 while on a romantic double date with his girlfriend of more than four years, Bailey Reidling
DeWitt was found on the ground of the Dave & Buster’s parking lot by Reidling after wandering inside to get food and use the restroom
Police arrested Kemare Bryan, 18, and Chandler Richardson, 19, in South Carolina two days later
Despite the anguish she faces, Reidling says she is following in the footsteps of DeWitt’s parents, and choosing to forgive his killers.
‘Elijah would forgive them, which seems like he wouldn’t, you know, if you’re one of those guy friends or if you see him on the field, he’s a scary player, but he would have forgave them. I’m going to,’ Reidling said.
‘There’s something in my heart telling me to. I haven’t got any hatred towards them. Anger? Yes.’
Reidling confirmed that DeWitt may have known the suspects after meeting them at the Dave & Buster’s only a few days earlier. DeWitt had gone to entertainment restaurant and was approached by Bryan and Richardson asking if he had weed, Reidling was told by a source.
She said it is unclear how the suspects knew DeWitt would’ve been at the Dave & Buster’s on October 5.
Grieving and in disbelief, Reidling later said DeWitt would’ve wanted her and others to move on and has forgiven the suspects
Reidling confirmed that DeWitt may have known the suspects after meeting them at the Dave & Buster’s only a few days earlier
Reidling said her football star boyfriend had spent the time at her apartment the night before he died. The next morning, Dewitt headed to practice and Reidling went to work.
‘He texted me that he had the best practice he ever had,’ Reidling said.
DeWitt later went to play golf with his friends before heading on the double date.
The lovebirds had a three year age gap, and both went to Jefferson High School for one year together when the football star was a freshman. To be close to DeWitt, Reidling chose to attend Georgia Southern University.
Reiding mourned her boyfriend in a heartfelt tribute on Monday. In light of the DeWitt’s visitation on Tuesday and funeral on Wednesday, Reidling topped off a photo of her and her boyfriend of more than four years hugging along with eight pages of tribute.
‘They say you aren’t supposed to question God but damn,’ Reidling wrote in a tribute on October 10. ‘I never thought I would be having to write this. Baby, I know you couldn’t help what happened but damn why’d you leave me.’
‘None of this is real to me yet, so I feel like I’m stuck,’ Reidling wrote. ‘I don’t think any of it because I truly believe in a long a** dream… I’m waiting for you to text me, call me back, or snap me.’
‘Elijah, I need you with me,’ she continued. ‘I need you here to tell me if I’m being dramatic, I need you here to give me a hug even when I don’t want a hug… to kiss me and tell me everything is going to be okay, to tell me to come inside and just lay in the bed when I mentally or physically don’t feel good. I need you here as protection when I’m scared.’
Reidling recalled her past with DeWitt that are nothing more than mere memories. She counted on the football star to explain to her complicated subjects like how cryptocurrency works – or to greet here first thing in the morning and night.
The heart broken girlfriend later explained she was happy the suspects were arrested but is more focused on not having DeWitt anymore.
‘I used to hate about how you would move so slow when we were in a hurry but damn I would give anything to be able to rush you again,’ she wrote. ‘Call me selfish, I don’t care, but I don’t have my Elijah, half of me is gone.’
DeWitt was dubbed a ‘gentle giant’ by some of those who knew him, according to Reidling who remembered his radiant energy
DeWitt is pictured during a football game before his death, with the two teenagers accused of murdering set to be extradited from South Carolina to Georgia
Reidling remembered her boyfriend in a tribute
DeWitt was dubbed a ‘gentle giant’ by some of those who knew him, according to Reidling who remembered his radiant energy.
‘Elijah was a light, he wasn’t a man of many words but every room he walked into he made his presence. He made me a stronger person, he made me
Reidling concluded: ‘Until I get my wings to be with you again, make sure our house in heaven looks exactly how we planned our first house to look when we are “multi- millionaires.”‘
A candlelight vigil for DeWitt was held on Sunday evening as nearly a hundred people gathered to honor the Jefferson High School student.
‘Definitely the worst day of my life,’ Dawn Erwitt, Elijah’s mom told Fox News. ‘His life just came completely to a screeching halt in seconds.’
Erwitt told 11Alive News that her son was dedicated to football and strived to be number one.
‘He loved football, he was ready and willing to do whatever it takes to go D1, that was his ultimate goal.’
Despite losing their son, Dawn and her husband Craig have forgiven his alleged killers.
Forgiveness is for the forgiver,’ Craig told Fox news. ‘We don’t want the hate in this household.’
Elijah died on his father’s birthday, according to 11Alive News.
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk